The government's foreign aid budget will be frozen for two years from 2018, which in practical terms means Australia will be spending more than $300 million dollars less on foreign aid over that period.

The Director of the Development Policy Centre at the Australian National University in Canberra, Stephen Howes, says aid money to PNG and the Pacific will be mostly protected for the time being, but the freeze does raise questions about whether Australia is being as generous as it could be.